The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury literally picks up right where Pitch Black left off, with Riddick, Jack and Imam hurtling through space in their craft when they are taken prisoner by a larger vessel. Once on board, Riddick is forced to participate in a futuristic gladiator sport for the amusement of the Ship's Owner. After that, the gang goes through a series of obstacles as they try to escape and make their way back to their own spacecraft. There really isn't much to the story and it doesn't have anything to do with Pitch Black itself other than picking up where they left off. So, none of the monsters that were on the planet are to be found here. Instead, it's this weird giant robot, alien monster thingy.

You'll understand what the monster is and isn't when you see that this is an animated film that only clocks in at 30 minutes. Stylistically this one reminds me of Aeon Flux to some degree. Overall, it looks cool as they blend traditional 2D animation with some CGI animation. Bonus points for at least bringing back Vin Diesel, Keith David and Rhiana Griffith reprise their roles. The story ends where Riddick is taking Jack and Imam to New Mecca. What Riddick doesn't know is that there is a Bounty Hunter in pursuit. Dark Fury as a stand alone film is worth a Rent, Nothing more.

Just like Dark Fury, I had never seen The Chronicles of Riddick until now and it's clear that writer/director David Twohy had something that could be turned into a real Tent Pole Franchise. The Chronicles of Riddick is bigger, louder and badder and makes Pitch Black seem almost like a little art-house flick by comparison. Riddick is grandeur in size with a real sense of moving the story forward, into a place where you absolutely know was never intended by Twohy. Just where Dark Fury ended, with Toombs (Nick Chinlund) now in pursuit of Riddick (Vin Diesel) albeit 5 years later, it ties everything together to lay the groundwork of what's to come. Even Keith David returns for a brief spell as Imam.

I love Alexa Davalos and have been a fan of pretty much everything that she has done and I can't wait to see what she does in Lost Angels. She was great in Riddick as Jack/Kyra. But there is a part of me that wished that Rhiana Griffith had returned to play Jack. It would have added a lot of depth to the scenes between her and Vin, with a sense of their history on screen. Really not sure why she wasn't brought back or what the story is behind her no-show. Anyway, the new cast is heavy on name/face recognition with the likes of Thandie Newton, Colm Feore, Karl Urban and Judi Dench adding to the festivities. Definitely a nice addition to the Sci-Fi genre. A Buy for sure.

Overall. this is a nice package of films and worth a Buy for any Sci-Fi fan.